A new project from UK-based Penguin Books' digital fiction group, is using the power of the internet to tell stories in new and surprising ways.

In mid-March Penguin—along with alternative reality gaming firm Six to Start—launched the We Tell Stories initiative through which consumers can enjoy six digital novels by six different authors over the course of six weeks for free.

The first story, which launched March 18, was "The 21 Steps" by renowned thriller author Charles Cumming. The story is inspired by the 39 Steps, which established John Buchan as the original thriller writer and inspired many other novelists and filmmakers including Alfred Hitchcock."He was the wrong man, in the wrong place, at the wrong time," the story begins, and readers follow the protagonist's adventures step by step across the world using Google Maps, with text presented in the technology's information bubbles at each point along the way.

Three more stories have been published, leveraging new technology (twitter, google maps, user generated content) to engage the audience. As Penguin notes on its site, "these stories could not have been written 200, 20 or even 2 years ago." It's a whole new world for storytellers—one to watch, whether you're in media or not.

I personally tried it and it's interesting. Probably not for the hard core book lovers, but still interesting and fresh.